Johnson: Cowboys' Problem "Is Bigger Than Coaching"

Johnson continued his criticism of his former team, which began last week, on Sunday

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Many folks took Jimmy Johnson’s comments to Dan Patrick last week as a scathing criticism of the Jason Garrett-led Dallas Cowboys, and it’s not hard to see why; Johnson’s remark sounded like they were aimed at Garrett, at least at points, and it didn’t help that, following the loss to the Falcons in Atlanta, Garrett was weathering criticism from every angle even before Johnson made a peep.

On the pregame show leading into America’s Game of the Week on Fox on Sunday--which just happened to be Eagles-Cowboys--Johnson clarified his remarks a bit, though he didn’t back down from his original statement much, aside from implying that Garrett is only a small piece of the problem, if at all. No, according to Johnson, the Cowboys’ struggles of late have come as the result of a fundamentally flawed culture--one that a head coach can do only so much to change.

“This is bigger than coaching,” Johnson said, via the Dallas Morning News. “Underachievers--that’s what we’ve called them for years. The Cowboys have one playoff win in 16 years regardless of who was coaching…The players answer to Jerry Jones, not the head coach. There is no fear there… The players are put up on a pedestal before they ever win a game. As a head coach, it’s a chore to keep these players focused, keep their feet on the ground and keep them hungry because there’s no fear.”

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